West Virginians’ electric rates among lowest in Nation

In the most recent study of average annual electric rates by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (ETA), West Virginians paid the sixth lowest residential electric rates in the country for the full year, 2013. West Virginians paid less for electricity than residents in all of the surrounding states. The average 2013 retail price of electricity in West Virginia was 9.52 cents per Kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to 13.24 cents in Maryland, 12.82 cents in Pennsylvania, 11.91 cents in Ohio, 10.83 cents in Virginia and 9.71 cents in Kentucky.

The only states where residential customers paid less for electricity in 2013 were Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, North Dakota and Washington, all which ranged between. 8.67 and 9.51 cents per kWh. On the other end of the scale in the continental United States, New York residential customers paid 18.84 cents per kWh, followed by Connecticut, Vermont, California and New Hampshire, all of whom had average rates in excess of 16.00 cents per kWh for 2013.

In West Virginia, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh of electricity per month received an average electric bill of $95.20 in 2013, whereas a customer in the five continental U.S. states with the highest rates paid from $163.60 to $188.40 per month in 2013 for using the same amount of electricity.

The ETA is the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The agency collects, analyzes and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policy-making, efficient markets and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. Full results of the study are in: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly with Data for December, 2013, issued February, 2014, Table 5.6.B. Accessed from February, 2014 Monthly Issue link at: http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/.